Politics

Coronavirus: CBN stops banks from retrenching workers

Tuesday, May 05, 2020 at 8:08 AM by Aanu Adegun

- Plans to retrench bank workers will now be suspended

- This was arrived at after a meeting of the bankers' committee

- It was also agreed that banks would need the express approval of the CBN to lay off any staff

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In a bid to stop people from losing their jobs during this pandemic period, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the banks in the country have agreed to shelve the planned sack of workers in the banking sector.

This was contained in a statement from the apex bank signed by Isaac Okorafor, director, corporate communications.

He said the CBN, Bankers’ Committee both decided to suspend lay-offs in banks.

Following the backlash that greeted the video, the CBN on Sunday stated that, “in order to help minimize and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families and livelihoods, no bank in Nigeria shall retrench or lay-off any staff of any cadre (including full-time and part-time).

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“To give effect to the above measure, the express approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria shall be required in the event that it becomes absolutely necessary to lay-off any such staff.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria solicits the support of all in our collective effort to weather through the economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported the federal government has sought the bank account statements of some former public office holders from 10 foreign and local banks on the controversial Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Ltd gas deal.

Among those affected by the request are former president Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience; former ministers of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Rilwanu Lukman, who died on July 21, 2014.

Legit.ng gathered that the banks, which the details are required from are Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and New York branches of Deutsche Bank AG and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.

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According to the report, the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said the federal government is requesting that “all documents concerning any transactions, to, from, or for the benefit” of Jonathan and his wife between 2009 and the present day."

Malami said that the information contained in the document would help an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to know individuals in the P&ID ltd gas deal.

The newspaper said that although Malami didn’t mention Jonathan as a subject of the EFCC probe, the former president’s name appears alongside the ex-ministers in Nigeria’s proposed subpoenas.

Recent international media reports suggested the Nigerian government had subpoenaed bank records for Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience, in the United States of America.

It was also gathered that Jonathan encouraged US authorities to cooperate fully with the Nigerian government on its demands.